


Bribery Will Get You Everywhere

by telperion_15



Category: Primeval
Genre: Birthday, Bribery, Established Relationship, Family, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-29
Updated: 2012-01-29
Packaged: 2017-10-30 07:23:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/329247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/telperion_15/pseuds/telperion_15
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Remind me whose birthday it is again?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bribery Will Get You Everywhere

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written as a birthday fic for joereaves, for the prompt 'Lester/Lyle and the Lester children, birthday'.
> 
> A note about OCs:  
> Primeval fandom on LiveJournal has generated a number of fanon OCs, created by different authors and freely used by others, to the extent that some of them have now taken on lives of their own. Of the ones that appear in this fic, Lyle belongs to fredbassett, and Daniel, Pip and Susan Lester belong to fififolle.

“Remind me whose birthday it is again?” Jon said, as Lester’s nine-year old son Daniel went dashing past, whooping with delight as he chased the remote-controlled car zipping along the ground in front of him.  
  
“When I woke up this morning, I was under the impression it was mine,” Lester responded dryly. “It’s your own fault, Jon, you know how susceptible my children are to bribery. Even though you also know you shouldn’t have to resort to it by now.”  
  
He gave Jon a stern look, and Jon grinned back crookedly, before he drew his feet in quickly as Daniel and the car zoomed past again. He’d already had his feet run over twice in the last half-an hour, and he wasn’t looking to repeat the experience. Not being able to run after dinos on Monday morning because of bruising related to a scaled down monster truck would have Finn and Kermit in stitches. Not to mention that Ditzy would never let him hear the end of it.  
  
Still, as another happy shriek echoed from the end of the garden, he found he couldn’t regret bringing the gift. He grinned at Lester again. “Never hurts to reinforce someone’s opinion of you,” he claimed.  
  
Lester rolled his eyes. “Well, in that case, you’re now my son’s friend for life,” he said. “Although, returning to the issue at hand for a moment, I can’t help noticing that I haven’t received any presents yet. And as we’ve just established, it is _my_ birthday.”  
  
“You’re getting yours later,” Jon promised him, letting a little bit of his intention show in his eyes, and enjoying the way Lester’s cheeks turned slightly pink. His lover took a quick sip of his gin and tonic, trying – and failing – to hide how flustered he was. Jon smirked, and took a swallow of his own drink, sprawling out in his chair a little more to soak up the late afternoon sunshine.  
  
“You don’t mind this, do you?” Lester’s voice was uncharacteristically uncertain, and Jon turned his head slightly to look at him again.  
  
“Mind what?”  
  
“Sunday dinner with my ex-wife on my birthday,” Lester elaborated. “Not quite what you were planning, I’m sure.”  
  
“Who says I was planning anything?” Jon asked innocently. “I’m just happy not to have to fork out for a fancy meal in an expensive restaurant.”  
  
Lester glared at him for a few seconds, but was unable to stop the rueful smile that eventually curled his mouth upwards. “I’d just understand if you thought it was…odd, that’s all,” he said.  
  
“James, you want to spend your birthday with your kids – there’s nothing odd about that,” Jon told him. “And I like Susan, remember? Hell, she even likes me.”  
  
“Well, there’s no accounting for taste.”  
  
“Thanks very much. Although last time I looked she wasn’t the only one of the Lester clan that likes me.”  
  
“Like I said, my children respond well to bribery.”  
  
“And what about their Dad – does he respond well to bribery?”  
  
“Of course I don’t. I’m an upstanding member of Her Majesty’s government. I don’t take bribes.”  
  
“Sure about that, darling?” Jon levered himself out of his chair, and leant over Lester, catching hold of his chin and tilting his head back so he could kiss him.  
  
“And what are you hoping to obtain with that kind of bribe, Lieutenant?” Lester asked a moment or two later.  
  
“A promise that we can leave as soon as the after-dinner brandies and the washing up are done,” Jon replied. “I can’t give you your birthday present until we get home, after all.”  
  
The whizzing of an electric motor and thundering footsteps alerted them that Daniel was heading back their way, and Jon sat down again quickly as Lester’s son and his new toy came to a halt in front of them.  
  
“Why are you all red, Dad?” the boy asked, with disarming directness.  
  
Lester gaped for a second while Jon tried not to laugh, and then, “It’s just the sun,” he told Daniel. “Not enough shade on the patio.”  
  
Daniel looked suspicious, but then appeared to dismiss it, turning instead to Jon. “Thanks for the car, Jon,” he said enthusiastically. “It’s awesome.”  
  
“Glad you think so,” Jon told him.  
  
“It can do jumps and everything. Want to see?”  
  
“Sure.”  
  
As Daniel retreated to the lawn once more, and started setting up a ramp with a couple of bricks and a plank of wood, Jon felt Lester glaring at him again.  
  
“What?”  
  
“One of these days I’m going to have to kill you. In the slowest and most painful way imaginable.”  
  
“I love you too, sweetie.” Jon grinned at his lover unconcernedly.  
  
Luckily, he was saved from Lester carrying out his threat immediately by the sound of the gate at the side of the house opening and shutting, followed by Lester’s other child, his daughter Pip, appearing around the corner.  
  
“Hi, Dad. Hi, Jon.”  
  
“Hello, darling.”  
  
“Hey, kid.”  
  
Pip gave Jon the kind of withering _I am not a kid_ look that only teenagers are capable of, and Jon held up his hands in mock surrender.  
  
“Sorry.”  
  
“Hockey practice, was it, darling?” Lester asked, eyeing the streaks of mud adorning his daughter’s legs. Jon was impressed. Anyone who could get that muddy when they hadn’t had a drop of rain for at least two weeks, and the ground was as dry as a bone, must have a special talent for finding dirt that he thoroughly approved of.  
  
“Yeah. Sorry, Dad, we wouldn’t normally train on a Sunday, but we’ve got a match next week and we need all the practice we can get.”  
  
“It’s fine, Pip. I don’t mind. It’s your mother’s wrath you would have had to face if you’d missed dinner.”  
  
“I can handle Mum. Anyway, if you just hang on a minute…” Pip was rummaging in her sports bag, and after a few seconds she extracted a small package wrapped in bright blue, slightly battered-looking paper. “Here you go. Happy birthday, Dad.” She handed over the present, accompanying it with a quick peck on the cheek.  
  
“Thank you, darling.” Lester removed the paper and opened the case inside to reveal a pair of golden cufflinks. “They’re very nice.”  
  
“Mum helped me choose them,” Pip said. “She said you needed something classy to offset those awful ties you wear.”  
  
Jon snorted as Lester narrowed his eyes, and then tried to look innocent as his lover’s gaze swung towards him momentarily.  
  
“I can see your mother and I are going to have to have a little chat,” Lester said. “But the cufflinks are still lovely. Thank you, Pip.”  
  
“No problem.” Pip waved the thanks away with a hand that Jon now noticed was as muddy as her legs. Pip appeared to notice it too, as she grimaced ruefully, and swung her bag over her shoulder again. “I’d better go and have a quick shower before dinner – I doubt Mum will want me sitting at the table like this.”  
  
“Now there is one thing your mother and I _can_ agree on,” Lester said. “Off you go then.”  
  
When Pip had vanished inside the house, Jon fixed Lester with a sly look and commented, “Susan is right about your ties, you know.”  
  
“Remember what I said about killing you slowly and painfully?” Lester shot back. “I’m sure I can get Captain Ryan to help me – he knows who pays his wages…”  
  
“You know, I’ve always thought you were a very snappy dresser,” Jon said quickly. “I admire your panache.”  
  
Lester merely smirked, and took another sip of his drink.  
  
“James?” Susan’s voice floated out through the open kitchen window, and both men twisted in their seats slightly to look over their shoulders. “Was that Pip I just heard?”  
  
“Yes, she’s back from hockey practice,” Lester replied. “Looking like she’d brought half the pitch with her. She’s gone to have a shower before dinner.”  
  
“Oh good. Daniel!” Susan raised her voice enough to attract the attention of her son, who was still fiddling with his ramp in the middle of the lawn.  
  
“Yes, Mum?”  
  
“Can you come in and lay the table, please? I’ll be dishing up in a little while.”  
  
“But Mum, I was going to show Dad and Jon how well my new car can jump.”  
  
“You can show them _after_ dinner,” Susan said firmly. “Now, please.”  
  
Daniel pouted, but nonetheless rose to his feet and stomped towards the house.  
  
“And James, I wonder if I could trouble you to open a bottle of wine for dinner?”  
  
“Of course,” Lester called back. “I’ll be right there.” He looked at Jon, and then at the half-constructed ramp on the lawn. “Looks like we’re adding something else to our schedule of after dinner activities. You might have to delay your present for a little while longer.”  
  
Jon pulled face. “Great.”  
  
“Well, like I said, it’s your own fault,” Lester said lightly, as he stood up. “You shouldn’t have…”  
  
“…resorted to bribery,” Jon finished. He sighed, standing likewise. “Yes, I know.”


End file.
